


Come Home

by cootpancake



Category: Paladins: Champions Of The Realm (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Flower Crowns, Mild reference to blood, Not Beta Read, War, art hell was here, but like not since term isnt properly dead idk, the rocks are depressed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27881877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cootpancake/pseuds/cootpancake
Summary: Amidst a time of strife, the realm on the verge of complete warfare. What is a stagalla to do? Caught in the crossfires of the war, bound to the land and a war the crushed the hope of rejecting a long time ago.But even when flowers wilt, the seeds they leave behind will grow in their wake. Leaving behind the memories they carried with them.(Term and Inara do flower crowns and do war talk)
Relationships: Inara/Terminus (Paladins)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 6





	Come Home

**Author's Note:**

> [lad number 1](https://twitter.com/QueenaUwUDraws)  
> [lad number 2](https://twitter.com/Teonya4)  
> [lad number 3](https://twitter.com/imloobi)  
> [lad number 4](https://twitter.com/dominicsteynart)  
> the peanut gallery to whatever happened here
> 
> terminara angst/flower crowns/idek but inara almost cries like twice so [here me](https://twitter.com/cootpancake)

Inara’s nimble fingers weaved through the stems of the flowers in her hands, intertwining the delicate greenery in between each other, tying off the small knots. Daisies of innocent white and blue twirled and twisted in their interlocked position, petals waving in the small breeze.

“You’re much better than me at this… I don’t get it.” Terminus fiddled with the flowers in his hand, falling apart no matter how tight he pulled them together. The stems crooked showing the frustration in the weaving, the stagalla’s thick fingers proving to much a hurdle to expertly lace stems together as his wife could.

“You are much too stiff and aggravated, you should be putting your heart into it, not your mind. The flowers will guide you if you let them.” Inara leaned over from where she kneeled on the grass, nestling the flower crown in her husband’s unkempt hair, the pure daisies standing out against the brown of his hair and the rock of his body.

“Hmph, easy for you to say, you would be having as hard of a time if you had hands as big as mine…” Terminus crossed his hands over his chest, huffing in his frustration. He palmed his hands up at the crown on his head, each stem intact and each petal was stiff, holding its shape in natural strength.

“No, no, no, believe me, it is not the shape of your hands that affect the work, it is your heart. Here, let me help you.” Inara shuffled beside Terminus, resting her delicate hands on top of the larger chipped hands. She set a soft pace of movement, helping guide her husband’s hands as they weaved the flowers together.

“That wasn’t too hard was it?” Inara let go of Terminus’ hands, he reached up to place the delicately woven flowers on her head.

“A lot of things are easy when you help me.” Terminus shoved his hands in his lap, tentatively watching his wife position the crown comfortably on her head.

“That is true, a lot of things are easy with you helping me too.” Inara shuffled over quietly, leaning to rest her shoulder against her husband’s bulky form, a soft breath escaping her lips, contentment and calm.

“Sometimes I wonder if we did the right thing.” Inara’s voice had a bite of sorrow, as if she were regretful, sadness in her form.

“The right thing? With what?” Terminus ran a soothing hand through the other stagalla’s hair, her breath steadying to a soothed paced.

“Are we really safe with the Paladins? After all that’s happened, after all our race has been through, what trust is there left between us?” Inara sat up, clutching her hands to her chest, as if to feel any kind of warmth within herself.

“Of course, years ago we never would have agreed to fight for them if we never believed there was hope, honey. We are representing our centuries old race, we are carrying the weight of our brothers and sisters on our shoulders, we should be proud to serve for such a noble cause.” Terminus laced an arm around Inara’s waist, pulling her body in closer to soothe her quivering form, her body shaking like a leaf.

“But all the lives we lost, all the innocent faces and families, their cause forced so many of us to crumble. Who are we to trust them?” Inara felt warm tears well quickly in the corners of her eyes, her fear and anxiety taking over her body.

“Maybe you’re right, maybe we can’t trust them, but in the end we don’t have a choice, so the only thing you can do is trust yourself. If you trust your own stone, then you won’t be afraid. We may not be able to choose our sides, but we can choose our actions, and I want to be the stagalla that rose up against the fight that needed him, to find strength against any opponent, wouldn’t you want that too?” Terminus while feeling as if he spoke in faux belief, did work to cheer up his beloved.

“I will try my hardest, however I’m still reluctant to go, while my mind tells me this is my duty, my heart resides here, in safety among the forests. No matter how many times I step onto a battlefield, fear is all that awaits me.” Inara nuzzled into Terminus’ shoulder, letting his close comfort calm her anxieties, the wave of peace washing over her.

“You and me, we’ll show that stagalla strength doesn’t waver, we stand eternal and strong, our stone may chip but we always smooth over. We will prove to the world, that the strength of stone is stronger than any other weapon.” Terminus quickly jostled Inara, her stone body creaking as her husband held her tight against him.

“Mmm, you’re right, how could I have forgotten? Stagalla are eternal, our strength is unmatched, and I suppose the two of us can show the world that our worth without goblin uprising is still strong. We will find our own strength, and we will fight for ourselves.” Inara sat up, the petals on her flower crown blowing gently in the smooth breeze.

“Yeah, how could you forget? Can’t believe you’d forget something as important as that.” Terminus sat up, taking off his flower crown and laying it on the floor.  
  
“Hey now, I worked hard on that flower crown for you, why must you take it off?”

“Maybe it’s best to leave the flowers to the earth.”

\---------

Blood soaked into the bottoms of her dress, rubbing against her leg every time she took a step. Her spear clutched firmly in hand. The winds of the forest were soft, barely enough to blow her hair back from her shoulders.

Inara placed her spear on the ground, kneeling down beside her weaponry. She reached for it, the flower crown of pure whites, purples and blues. Left by the tree side to rest in the grass.

“Maybe, we were always destined to return to the earth.”

Pushing her hands into the dirt, she shovelled some space into the ground, laying the flower ground in the crevice, pushing the dirt back on top of the delicate petals.

“May your seeds bear beautiful flower.”

Inara stood, a wave of anguish washing over her. For the first time in her life she felt alone, no longer proud of all the chips in her stone that ran along her shoulder and arms. They felt ugly, they felt misplaced, and she felt weak, her stone having cracked. Bullets were mere scratches against her, and she had watched countless stagalla return to the earth. They could always be rebuilt, stone could always be reforged, but no amount of stone would heal the wounds in her heart.

“I wish there were time for me to mourn, however time moves fast, and will not wait for me. The Mother will bear flowers in your name, Terminus.”

“ _Inara! We’re running low on time we need to keep moving!”_ A voice called into the forest.

“Mhm, I will be right there.”

**Author's Note:**

> shout out to the lads


End file.
